What the hell should I do in the next five months?
March 20, 2009 8:08 PM Subscribe
Help me figure out what to do before I start my master's degree!!!
In September, I'm going back to school. I finished my BA last April. I recently got fired. I'm living with my parents. I live in a crappy small town.
I hate it. It's not a good situation to be in.
My question: What the hell do I do in the remaining five months? I should just get a crappy job, I suppose, but if I have to live with my parents any more, I will go crazy. I want to teach english for a few months, but by the time I get certified I will only have a few months to do teach. Is this a good idea? Can you teach without getting certified?
Sorry this is so disjointed, but I really have no idea what to do!
In September, I'm going back to school. I finished my BA last April. I recently got fired. I'm living with my parents. I live in a crappy small town.
I hate it. It's not a good situation to be in.
My question: What the hell do I do in the remaining five months? I should just get a crappy job, I suppose, but if I have to live with my parents any more, I will go crazy. I want to teach english for a few months, but by the time I get certified I will only have a few months to do teach. Is this a good idea? Can you teach without getting certified?
Sorry this is so disjointed, but I really have no idea what to do!
Can you teach without getting certified?
Yes. Emergency certification. Talk to the district that you plan to teach in.
posted by nimsey lou at 10:06 PM on March 20, 2009
Yes. Emergency certification. Talk to the district that you plan to teach in.
posted by nimsey lou at 10:06 PM on March 20, 2009
Smoke up.
posted by wfrgms at 10:13 PM on March 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by wfrgms at 10:13 PM on March 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Does your master's program come with funding that's adequate for the area where you're doing the masters?
If so, go somewhere else! Visit your undergrad friends who are now scattered across the country/world.
If you don't have funding for your masters, work you ass off on as many jobs as you can get and live as frugally as you can and save. Yes, living with the 'rents *SUCKS* but having a chunk of money in a savings account that you can draw from when you can't quite make rent takes some of the sting out of being in grad school.
I'm assuming that you went 'off to college' in a larger metropolitan area than you grew up in. If you have the money, go and travel. If you don't have the money... you don't say what masters program you're in and whether or not you're getting money (either given to you or a TA job waiting for you) so, you should think about your future. "Suffering" now or *suffering* later.
That is, unless you want to to take out school loans - depending on what degree you're pursuing and what career you have in mind once yo have the degree, this may or may not be a 'good' choice.
posted by porpoise at 10:38 PM on March 20, 2009
If so, go somewhere else! Visit your undergrad friends who are now scattered across the country/world.
If you don't have funding for your masters, work you ass off on as many jobs as you can get and live as frugally as you can and save. Yes, living with the 'rents *SUCKS* but having a chunk of money in a savings account that you can draw from when you can't quite make rent takes some of the sting out of being in grad school.
I'm assuming that you went 'off to college' in a larger metropolitan area than you grew up in. If you have the money, go and travel. If you don't have the money... you don't say what masters program you're in and whether or not you're getting money (either given to you or a TA job waiting for you) so, you should think about your future. "Suffering" now or *suffering* later.
That is, unless you want to to take out school loans - depending on what degree you're pursuing and what career you have in mind once yo have the degree, this may or may not be a 'good' choice.
posted by porpoise at 10:38 PM on March 20, 2009
DONT DO GRAD SCHOOL ITS A TRAP!!!
...No, I kid. It's a good investment. But it will be more work than you've ever had to do, ever. Yes I don't know you personally, but there is roughly an 80% that you--like myself--largely coasted through high school and coasted through college and coasted through work and never REALLY had to **THINK**. No, really, you think you have, but you really haven't. No matter what your discipline is, you will have to be independent and a problem solver and a manager and coordinate your time and your budget like never before.
Now, with that quick note of wisdom on what lies ahead of you, consider what you would like to do before such an experience begins. Enjoy yourself, travel and see friends? Excellent choice, good to do while youre young. Get a job to save up as much as you can? Also an excellent choice to get a little insurance for the future.
I congratulate you on beginning a graduate career. It will pay out in the long run. Good luck, and when times get really dark, it has sometimes helped me to commiserate with others in my position through PhD comic: www.phdcomics.com
posted by CTORourke at 12:00 AM on March 21, 2009
...No, I kid. It's a good investment. But it will be more work than you've ever had to do, ever. Yes I don't know you personally, but there is roughly an 80% that you--like myself--largely coasted through high school and coasted through college and coasted through work and never REALLY had to **THINK**. No, really, you think you have, but you really haven't. No matter what your discipline is, you will have to be independent and a problem solver and a manager and coordinate your time and your budget like never before.
Now, with that quick note of wisdom on what lies ahead of you, consider what you would like to do before such an experience begins. Enjoy yourself, travel and see friends? Excellent choice, good to do while youre young. Get a job to save up as much as you can? Also an excellent choice to get a little insurance for the future.
I congratulate you on beginning a graduate career. It will pay out in the long run. Good luck, and when times get really dark, it has sometimes helped me to commiserate with others in my position through PhD comic: www.phdcomics.com
posted by CTORourke at 12:00 AM on March 21, 2009
Deadlift
posted by tiburon at 12:10 AM on March 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by tiburon at 12:10 AM on March 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
If you want to teach and are not certified, you can always look into teaching at an independent (private) school. I have been teaching, without certification, for 5 years now. This site can point you to job openings and info about the independent school sector. (assuming you are in the states here).
posted by sundri at 12:47 AM on March 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by sundri at 12:47 AM on March 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
Five months is a long time, but the only advice I have is to take some time off before you begin graduate school. I can only speak for my own discipline, but this is one of the things I wished I did before I left for school. Graduate school tends to dominate your entire schedule, leaving you with little precious time for yourself. Take care of yourself, your personal interests, and needs while you still have free time.
posted by seppyk at 5:34 AM on March 21, 2009
posted by seppyk at 5:34 AM on March 21, 2009
Bike and hike. I assume there's no gym where you live.
Learn astronomy. "Crappy small towns" have less light pollution. I could clearly see the Milky Way growing up -- regularly.
Realize that now you have the ability to read what you want to read, not what you have to read!
Cook for your family, if they can get on board with that. You will need that skill. See apartmenttherapy.com's kitchen site.
See what your parents can teach you. Do you know how to patch jeans? (At the Duke marine lab in Beaufort, NC, I once saw a notice offering that service, not that you'd offer it. But clearly not everyone's mother taught them, as mine did.)
Perhaps car maintenance, low-scale home repair (faucets, etc.). Again, you'll need those skills when you're doing an all-nighter and something springs a leak. Ask what they might be able to spare to help you set up your digs.
As the time gets nearer, find your grad colleagues on online social networks. Set up your own online network for your program. Facebook is good, but a Google or Yahoo group is better because you can post documents to them, along with videos and pics. I did a Yahoo group for my program so that we had a walled garden to hash things out with one another. (We were confrontational with our program heads. Needed to be.)
Use the technique of "future nostalgia" to think about what'd make you say "shit, I shoulda xxx" before grad school.
posted by jgirl at 7:13 AM on March 21, 2009
Learn astronomy. "Crappy small towns" have less light pollution. I could clearly see the Milky Way growing up -- regularly.
Realize that now you have the ability to read what you want to read, not what you have to read!
Cook for your family, if they can get on board with that. You will need that skill. See apartmenttherapy.com's kitchen site.
See what your parents can teach you. Do you know how to patch jeans? (At the Duke marine lab in Beaufort, NC, I once saw a notice offering that service, not that you'd offer it. But clearly not everyone's mother taught them, as mine did.)
Perhaps car maintenance, low-scale home repair (faucets, etc.). Again, you'll need those skills when you're doing an all-nighter and something springs a leak. Ask what they might be able to spare to help you set up your digs.
As the time gets nearer, find your grad colleagues on online social networks. Set up your own online network for your program. Facebook is good, but a Google or Yahoo group is better because you can post documents to them, along with videos and pics. I did a Yahoo group for my program so that we had a walled garden to hash things out with one another. (We were confrontational with our program heads. Needed to be.)
Use the technique of "future nostalgia" to think about what'd make you say "shit, I shoulda xxx" before grad school.
posted by jgirl at 7:13 AM on March 21, 2009
Second CTORourke.
Email professors and get syllabi for courses and read ahead!
Read about your professor's research interests, and be able to converse with them (good way to get RA'ships!)
Research fellowships and scholarships. There are some you can apply for ahead of time.
I hear that S. Korea is great if you want to teach english without getting accredited...
posted by stratastar at 6:12 PM on March 21, 2009
Email professors and get syllabi for courses and read ahead!
Read about your professor's research interests, and be able to converse with them (good way to get RA'ships!)
Research fellowships and scholarships. There are some you can apply for ahead of time.
I hear that S. Korea is great if you want to teach english without getting accredited...
posted by stratastar at 6:12 PM on March 21, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:30 PM on March 20, 2009